Hedsor Jazz

And Geoff’s blog!

And coming this week  (Thursday September 28^th) to Hedsor Jazz we have that erudite trumpeter Ian Smith.

Our ensemble this week has been put together by drummer Mike Jeffries, and will leave Ian with the opportunity to tell us more about the tunes he plays, and to play the harmonies with our regular keyboard man Ken McCarthy. Braces man Peter Hughes will be on bass, so there is a guarantee of a good time to be had by all, even the audience!

I will endeavour to nag Ian to use the microphone for his talks about the tunes. He is after all a lecturer in English, and has travelled the world to do so, so Hedsor should hear his words!

Our gig next week, the first gig of October, will have that stunning young man on the saxophone Alam Nathoo, alongside “our” Lester Brown on trumpet. Lester may also be on another kind of horn as well, but you will have to come to find out! That is Thursday October 5^th. Mike Jeffries will again be our drummer, and Ken McCarthy our keyboard man! Our bass player will be Al Perrie, who comes all the way from Oxford.

 

IF you get the itch for jazz on October 3^rd, a Tuesday, you could do worse than try The Bourne End Community Centre. Paul Hurley has asked me to mention that Mike is performing there as well.

Jazz in the bar at Bourne End Community Centre

Tuesday October 3rd with Mike Jeffries band "In the Pocket" featuring Mike Wills on sax, Jez Cooke guitar, Martin Pickett keyboard, Steve Riddle bass, and Mike Jeffries drums.

Music starts 8 pm Entrance £8. Bourne End Community Centre, Wakeman Road SL8 5SX, Free parking after 7pm.

One thing I mustn’t forget to mention and that is the closure of Cookham Bridge from October 16^th. This will be a complete closure for a minimum period of 20 weeks.  Do also be aware that the road leading to the bridge will be closed during the day on some days before hand!

My pictures of last weeks Hedsor Jazz are below. It was a great session with Stuart Henderson alongside Jonathan Lewis, with Ken McCarthy, Mike Jeffries and Peter Hughes. Interesting tunes, well scripted, and very well played.

That’s about it for now,  if you have been to Hedsor Jazz before and enjoyed it tell your friends. Don’t keep it to yourself.

 

Geoff’s Blog, all about Hedsor Jazz?

 Tuesday, 19 September 2023

No, not all about, but mostly about. I have been writing about jazz in this blog for almost 20 years, and it does largely concern itself with jazz at the Hedsor Bar, but it has never been exclusive. However, if you want to keep abreast of what is happening jazz wise at Hedsor, it’s a good place to start!

We are entering into the period of Autumn, and some of what has been advertised will not be what will happen, changes happen! “Everything Must Change” is a great song*, but sadly it is true. I will try and keep you informed of all Hedsor Jazz week by week, and do rest assured we do want to maintain the quality product of the jazz at the Hedsor Bar that we have all become used to, so watch this space, and share with others who might be interested in experiencing what we offer. 

This Thursday September 21^st at Hedsor Jazz we have Stuart Henderson on trumpet alongside Jonathan Lewis on tenor sax, all ably supported by Ken McCarthy on keyboard, Steve Riddle on bass and Mike Jeffries on drums. 8.30 start £10 entry.

 

 Last week (pictures below) we also had Stuart Henderson, but alongside trombonist Nick Mills. They were backed by Nigel Fox on keyboard, Peter Hughes on bass, and Mike Jeffries on drums.

A great evening of very brassy jazz was had by all, including tunes like “This I Dig of You” and “Flamingo”. Now who will admit to knowing THAT?

 

 

We also had a bonus during the interval break, Nigel Fox and Ingrid played and sang 2 songs associated with September, including  Kurt Weill's "September Song".

Don’t forget that you can also listen to jazz  once a month on a Tuesday in Marlow, follow the link

 

https://www.marlowjazz.co.uk/  to read all about that in the forthcoming gigs section.

 

As you may remember Hedsor Jazz are now getting advice and ideas from our new Vice President, Vasilis Xenopoulos, and it has proven to be very valuable. Some of his insights are going to help us in keeping Hedsor Jazz on track in these changing times. More on that in the future, so do keep your eyes pealed on Jazz from Geoff !

PS. He still thinks we are mad running live jazz every week in an "out of the way" place like Hedsor!! But it does make it very special.

*The Lyrics are below

 

Everything must change,
Nothing stays the same.
Everyone must change
Nothing stays the same.

The young become the old,
Mysteries do unfold.
'Cause that's the way of time
Nothing and no one goes unchanged.

There are not many things
In life you can be sure of.
Except

Rain comes from the clouds,
And sun lights up the sky,
And humming birds do fly.

Winter turns to spring.
Wounded heart will heal.
Never much too soon
Everything must change

The young become the old,
Mysteries do unfold.
'Cause that's the way of time
Nothing and no one goes unchanged.

There are not many things
In life you can be sure of.
Except

Rain comes from the clouds,
And sun lights up the sky,

And humming birds do fly. 

So, with September autumn approaches, but somehow this year it has all got very confusing, and we appear to be walking backwards to Summer!

Changes happen all the time, but we all seem to like living by routine. Routine takes some of the burden off from actually thinking about every thing we do. Routine takes over, whether driving your car, getting dressed, making a cuppa. Many many things are placed into a routine, and we coast along maybe only thinking about the things that need to be rearranged when they need to be rearranged!!

Hedsor Jazz is having to rearrange a bit in the next few weeks. Don’t worry, we will be there every Thursday at Hedsor Bar, with first class music as usual. But Who is playing may not be who we said was going to be playing.

Over the last few years ever since Clive Burton passed away, all the bookings have been carried out by our drummer, Martin Hart. He has booked all the players, and has played himself most weeks. In those passing years, without our noticing too much, we have all got OLDER!! And Martin has begun to find doing all of that arranging a bit of a chore, and he will be taking a step back from Hedsor Jazz for about 5 weeks. Mike Jeffries will be taking his place on the drum stool and has taken control of Martins phone numbers! Therefore our published program has seen a need for a bit of rearranging itself.

One of the problems we have had in advertising Hedsor Jazz more widely is the need to know more in advance who is coming to play, and this has made Martin’s roll more difficult. Some of the players who we had asked to play have been made better offers, and replacements needed to be found. This coming Thursday, September 14th, is no exception. Stuart Henderson will be with us, but not paired with Frank Walden, instead we will have that fine trombonist Nick Mills with us. Obviously Mike Jeffries will be on drums, and because of a holiday already booked, Ken McCarthy will be away and Nigel Fox will be on keyboard. Peter Hughes will be on bass, (we hope, but he did recently have a fall)! So do bear with us

Real thanks go to Mike Jeffries for stepping in to this roll, and also thanks for playing last week at short notice.

Our session with Alan Barnes, Alam Nathoo and Lester Brown, with Al Pirrie on bass and Ken McCArthy on keyboard with Mike Jeffries on drums was excellent. It was another reminder that what we get at Hedsor Jazz is of the finest quality. A 3 part front line isn’t the easiest to organise, especially “on the hoof”, and none of the front line had played together before. A friend of mine who came was really amazed at how smoothly it all went. He emailed me this:- 

Great evening Geoff. Being so close to Alan and observing his finger movements was in itself a great eye opener, plus another of those amazing moments -which went :-

Ken – what key do you want it in

Alan - E flat (major I guess – which has 3 flats: not the most difficult for a keyboard player, but not the easiest either – but it’s the transposing at speed that’s the issue)

Ken OK !!!!!

This seeming magic can be yours at Hedsor Jazz every week for just £10 per head. Magic? No its skill, every time!

Some of my pictures from last week are below.

Keep an eye on the blog for the week by week rearrangements for who is coming when, and we hope very soon to have a complete correction of the listings, including more news about Christmas!! Yes, it IS coming!

A Big Font Blog

Because coming to Hedsor Jazz this Thursday is a BIG JAZZ NIGHT. That wonderful jazz saxophonist Alan Barnes will be with us this week - September 7^th and so will be one of our local jazz musicians, saxophonist Alam Nathoo.

Not only that, (or should that be “they” or “them”?) but “our” trumpet player Lester Brown will be with us as well. What more do you want? Well, you will get Ken McCarthy on keyboard and Martin Hart on drums (and microphone) AND that great bass player from Oxford Al Pirrie.

Alan Barnes with Ian Smith at Hedsor in November 2022

Come and celebrate Autumn with us at Hedsor Jazz because all of the above is yours for £10 a go. Any Bonus? Yes, club prices for your drinks and free parking for your car (or bicycle! Last week’s guitarist James Fenn came by bike!!).

Last weeks Hedsor Jazz had another stalwart of British Jazz. Booting us along was saxophonist Al Nicholls, with James Fenn adding in the accompanying lick of bluesy guitar. Those two at the front, although not playing as a pair at Hedsor before, have played together in different bands  for over 30 years. That must make someone an underage musician at some time! 

That very thin bass was being played by Steve Riddle by the way, and our regular keyboard player was Ken McCarthy with of course our leader Martin Hart on drums.

My photos from the evening are below.

 

Bye the way, if any of you get the free advertising magazine “Round and About” you may have noticed that they are now regularly letting people know what is on at Hedsor Jazz, and most months they call us “Hedsor Jazz Heroes”!

 Just in case their listing for September isn’t in large enough print for you, below is our poster for the September gigs.

 

In the cause of jazz solidarity, below are three of the up and coming gigs at Marlow Jazz Club. You can always find more details at www.marlowjazz.co.uk but on September 26^th they have trumpeter Steve Waterman. 

On October 24^th Marlow have Alan Barnes alongside American saxophonist Greg Abate. 

November 21^st Marlow Jazz Club have Nigel Price and Hedsor Jazz’s new Vice President Vasilis Xenopoulos

All of those are Tuesday gigs, ours are Thursdays, so some weeks you can be out twice for less money that one trip to Ronnie’s!